| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
November 16, 2001 - 6,549 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Glasser LegalWorks
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You are invited to attend the nation's leading seminar on how recent cases affect claims, plan design and operations. Highlights of this year's program include: -Health Care Plan Litigation -Fiduciary Litigation -Preemption after Egelhoff -Aftermath of Pegram -Managed Care Litigation More details are available now in an online brochure: http://www.legalwks.com/conferences/erisa_lit/home.htm
(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Overview: IRS Issues Final FMLA Regulations Affecting Flex Plans
Excerpt: "The IRS last month issued final regulations addressing the interaction between the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the rules governing flex plans under Code Section 125. The final rules, which were issued Oct. 17, update regulations the IRS proposed in 1995." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Tax Cut, COBRA Disputes Stall Stimulus Bill
Excerpt: "There are two main sticking points: Health insurance. Democrats want a new 75 percent federal match for the costly COBRA policies available to the jobless and to enable more laid-off workers to qualify for insurance benefits. Republicans call that an unnecessary new government entitlement ..." (StarTribune.com)
In New York, Providing Benefits to Spouses May Constitute Unlawful Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Excerpt: "Many employers provide benefits to married employees with 'spouses.' Those common employer policies may be subject to legal attack in the growing number of local and state jurisdictions that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Employer's Handbook Can Grant Otherwise-Ineligible Employees FMLA Rights
Excerpt: "The Seventh Circuit zeroed in on Pearle's SPD, holding that '[the] language therein created an enforceable contract granting [the plaintiff] rights under the FMLA.'" (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Must Employer Health Plans Provide Infertility and Prescription Contraceptive Coverage?
Excerpt: "Employer health plans face a number of difficult choices in the months ahead. Lawsuits by the EEOC and others have attacked plan exclusions for infertility treatments and, particularly, for prescription contraceptives. The few decisions to date have prompted employers to examine their health plan coverage and exclusions in detail before they too end up in court." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Senate Panel Votes To Let Feds, Military Members Keep Frequent Flier Miles
Excerpt: "The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee handed federal workers and military members a morale-boosting benefit on Wednesday by letting them keep any frequent flyer miles earned on government-paid air trips." (GovExec.com)
Close to One Million People May Lose Health Coverage
Excerpt: "Nearly a million people in the United States are at risk of losing their health insurance as a result of the economic downturn and the September 11 suicide attacks, according to a report released Wednesday by The Commonwealth Fund." (Reuters Health via Excite News)
Small Vote for Universal Care in Maine Is Seen as Carrying a Lot of Weight
Excerpt: "[A] vote this month in Portland on whether Maine should become the first state with universal health care could be the beginning of a new round in the nation's health care debate." (New York Times; free registration required)
Year-End Checkup for Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "This Alert will help identify year-end administrative and planning issues that could lead to compliance or employee relations problems if not addressed before or fairly early in 2002. In addition, we have included reminders about recent developments affecting benefit plans or participants." (Aon Consulting)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Benefits Manager | for Intelsat in DC |
| Pension Plan Administrator | for Benefit Associates, Inc. - Orange, CA in CA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Retirement Plan Fundamentals and EGTRRA Update | in NY on December 4, 2001 presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS |
| Trustees and Administrators Institutes | in FL on February 24, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
| Trustees and Administrators Institutes | in NV on June 9, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
| Trustees Institute for Jointly Managed Training and Education Funds | in FL on January 14, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
| Trustees Masters Program (TMP) | in Canada on September 21, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
| Benefits Conference for Public Employees | in CA on August 5, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
| Essentials of Public Sector Benefits Administration | in WI on September 30, 2002 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| HOUSE PASSES INVESTMENT ADVISER LEGISLATION (American Council of Life Insurers) |
| Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao: First Step Complete On Improving Retirement Security; Encourages Increased Freedom To Manage Savings (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) |
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Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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